These apple pie oatmeal bars taste like apple pie in oatmeal bar form. The bars need just 4 ingredients and don’t contain any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil. They can easily be customized and they store well.
A stack of four Apple Pie Oatmeal Bars

These oatmeal bars are soft, chewy, studded with cooked apple pieces and filled with cozy warm apple pie spices. You can adjust sweetness level or add other mix-ins to suit your personal preferences.

Ingredients

  • Quick oats
  • Apples
  • Maple syrup
  • Apple pie spice

Quick oats: This recipe works best with quick oats rather than rolled oats because quick oats are smaller and thinner pieces which bind better and cook faster.

Apples: I recommend choosing a sweet apple variety like Fuji, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady. Apples are used two ways in this recipe. Some of the apples are turned into an applesauce and some are cut into small pieces so that the bars are studded with soft cooked apple pieces. You can save time by using store bought applesauce instead of making your own applesauce.

Maple syrup: A little maple syrup is added to sweeten the oatmeal bars

Apple pie spice: Apple pie spice is added to give the bars their apple pie flavor. You can leave out the apple pie spice if you don’t like warm spices, but your bars will just taste like apple oatmeal bars rather than apple pie oatmeal bars.

How to Make Apple Pie Oatmeal Bars

  • Some of the apples are cooked until tender. Place them into a blender and blend only until they reach applesauce consistency. You can skip this step if using store bought applesauce.
  • Add applesauce, maple syrup and apple pie spice to a large mixing bowl and mix until evenly combined. Stir in the oats until they are fully incorporated.
  • Stir in the small apple cubes until they are evenly mixed in.
  • Transfer the batter to your prepared baking pan.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the bars are set and lightly golden on top.

Apple Pie Oatmeal Bars cut into squares

Texture

These bars have a soft and chewy texture, similar to baked oatmeal. The bars are lightly sweet and have soft sweet apple pieces studded throughout. You can increase the maple syrup amount if you prefer your bars to be sweeter.
A bite taken from an Apple Pie Oatmeal Bar

Expert Tips

  • You can save time by using store bought applesauce.
  • This recipe works best with a sweet apple variety because there is not a lot of added sugar to the bars.
  • You can add other mix-ins like chocolate chips, dried fruit or nuts.
  • Make sure your 1/4 inch apple pieces really are about 1/4 inch and not bigger. If they are too big, they will cause the bars to fall apart when you are cutting them.

Oatmeal bars made with fresh apples

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5 from 5 votes

4 Ingredient Healthier Apple Pie Oatmeal Bars

These apple pie oatmeal bars taste like apple pie in healthier oatmeal bar form. The bars need only 4 ingredients and don't contain any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil.
Servings: 12 bars
Prep Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 360 g (3 1/4 cups) 1 inch peeled apple cubes + 93g (3/4 cup) 1/4 inch peeled cubed apples , can substitute the 360 grams apples with 1.5 cups store bought applesauce
  • 3-4 tbsp (44-59ml) maple syrup, or more to taste
  • 1 1/2 tsp apple pie spice, or more to taste
  • 2 cups (180g) quick oats

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper leaving some overhang for easy removal later.
  • If you are using store bought applesauce, you can skip steps 2-3. Add the 360 grams of large cubed apples into a pot filled with water. Bring to a simmer on the stove and cook the apples until they are fork tender. Drain and remove the cooked apples from the water and place into a blender.
  • Blend the apples for a few seconds until they reach an applesauce consistency. Your applesauce shoud be thick, grainy-like consistency but without visible chunks of apples. If you still have apple chunks, you won't have enough liquid for your oat mixture. You should have 1.5 cups of applesauce.
  • Add the applesauce to a large mixing bowl. Add in the maple syrup and apple pie spice and mix until evenly combined. Add in the quick oats and mix with a spatula until the oats are fully incorporated. Your mixture should be thick. Taste, and if needed, you can add a little more maple syrup or apple pie spice. Stir in the small apple cubes until they are evenly mixed in.
  • Transfer the batter into your prepared baking pan. Use a spatula to evenly spread it across the pan and smooth the surface.
  • Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the bars are lightly golden on the surface and cooked through. Let bars cool fully before removing them from the pan and cutting and serving. Store uneaten bars in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

  • Applesauce substitution note: To save time, you can use store bought unsweetened applesauce instead of cooking apples and blending them. You will need 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened applesauce for the recipe. You will still need 3/4 cup of 1/4 inch peeled apple cubes.
  • Make sure your finely cubed apples are no bigger than 1/4 inch thick. If they are too big, they will cause the bars to fall apart when you cut them.
  • If you have a kitchen scale, I recommend using it for weighing the apples as it is hard to get an accurate measurement for apples using cups. I use this kitchen scale.*
  • I used Happy Belly Quick Oats.*
  • These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Serving: 1bar, Calories: 84kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 0.1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Sodium: 1mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 7g, NET CARBS: 16
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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